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Santa Clara U. tests new driverless shuttle

Move over, Google — Santa Clara University is getting in on the driverless vehicle game. Beginning this fall, Auro Robotics — a Silicon Valley start-up located in Sunnyvale, Calif. — will be testing their autonomous shuttle on Santa Clara...

Santa Clara U. tests new driverless shuttle

Auro Robotics shuttle on display in front of the Mission Church at Santa Clara University on Aug. 21, 2015.(Photo11: Photo courtesy of Joanne H. Lee/Santa Clara University)

Move over, Google — Santa Clara University is getting in on the driverless vehicle game.

Beginning this fall, Auro Robotics — a Silicon Valley start-up located in Sunnyvale, Calif. — will be testing their autonomous shuttle on Santa Clara University’s campus.

Auro Robotics didn't stumble upon Santa Clara by accident. According to arelease, SCU was selected because of its classification as a pedestrian campus, its location in relation to Auro's headquarters and its status as a private institution. Since Santa Clara is private school, the process of gaining necessary government approval was bypassed.

"Santa Clara was a good fit for us," says Nalin Gupta, CEO of Auro Robotics.

"The vehicles have been on campus for two weeks, intermittently. The engineers negotiate times with me when I feel that student pedestrian traffic will be at a minimum," says assistant vice president for university operations Chris Shay.

The shuttles — golf carts that have been modified to include laser scanners, radar, cameras and GPS — are not designed to get students from one side of the 106-acre campus to the other. That doesn’t mean students won’t be involved in the project, however.

As a SCU School of Engineering industry partner for the fall quarter, Auro will lead technical seminars, conduct corporate tours of their headquarters and lead a student design competition, according to according to Dr. Christopher Kitts, director of the Robotic Systems Laboratory at SCU.

Kitts says that between 30 and 50 students usually participate in the competitions where students have an opportunity to win a prize of usually a few thousand dollars by "brainstorm[ing] a concept for the industry partner."

Dean Godfrey Mungal of the Santa Clara’s School of Engineering tells USA TODAY College that the university hopes that interested engineering students will have an opportunity to interact in the pilot program.

"Since Auro is a startup they are under tight development deadlines, but they have indicated an interest in sharing and involvement with SCU students and faculty," he says.

Shay emphasizes that because this technology is new, the university has created "stringent rules of engagement" for Auro while they are testing the vehicle on campus. A "designated safety engineer" is to be on board at all times and rides are not to be given to public passengers.

"As the technology becomes proven, we will look for opportunities to demonstrate the true autonomous capabilities."

If the pilot program proves successful, Santa Clara will consider implementing similar vehicles on campus.

"Future tools like this could really enhance the ability of individuals to access all aspects of campus life while keeping the pedestrian nature of our campus preserved," says Shay in reference to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Jenni Sigl is a student at Santa Clara University and a summer 2015 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.